Even the Dead Love
by detrametal
Summary: I'm trying out a new format, two similar stories about the dead finding love, each chapter will alternate between the two a pure romance and a romance/humor: The Tree of Black leaves-"Don't ask me, you know me better than I know myself" Franken-oh, shoot me now!-"Not if you were the last man on Earth!" "Really now?" boom
1. Tree of Black Leaves 1

The Tree of Black Leaves

Chapter 1: She who dared to die

* * *

Raven Roth knew how relatively simple her life was, born from a young woman tricked by a demon, taken to Azarath with her mother- sent back to earth to live her life until her sixteenth birthday when she would become a portal for her father to pass through.

Yet there existed hints that pointed to the contrary. When her father emerged from his prison his words were "Finally! I have waited far too long for this!" in the heat of the moment her mind shut down, but since then she would only wonder why 'far too long' sixteen years for a demon was nothing-a blink of an eye.

When the Doom Patrol came to visit the first words out of Mento's mouth were "It's good to see you again Raven"

"Again?" she asked, something passed between his wife and him after she looked past Raven.

"Sorry, I was mistaken, you looked like someone else for a moment" she didn't believe them.

Then there were the dreams. Images of hundreds of people in odd clothes surrounding her, cursing and jeering at her. They screamed as something below her feet sparked and heat radiated towards her, she couldn't move, nor look down, the pain continued to burn her before it would fade from her consciousness. Then she would away in a cold sweat, panic radiating from her skin like sulfur in hell.

Then came Psycotopic and things were answered. By going through the darkest pits of the Underworld.

* * *

Psycotopic was a telekinetic much like Raven, she wore a dark purple cloak that covered all of her body save her face with was hidden by a mask much like Robin's but she was very fair skinned with shoulder length black wavy hair. When the call came out the villain was robbing the bank.

Instead of the normal witty banter this particular baddy hopped right to attacking, flinging various objects around the room towards the group of heroes-trying especially hard to hit the green boy jumping around quickly from kangaroo to turtle to hummingbird to whatever else he needed to be. Raven managed to slip behind a counter and extend her powers to feel why she was targeting Beast Boy-to her surprise it was fear. Mind-numbing tremor inducing terror.

At some point in the struggle the villain threw the vault door at the titans, Beast Boy dodged just enough to avoid getting hurt-his shirt was torn away from his body while Raven couldn't get far enough away and got a portion of her side ripped out by the hinges, the other dodged by a wide margin. Raven clutched her side and fell to her knees as she tried to heal herself but stopped. The blood wasn't flowing-in fact the blood that was on the vault door turned to dust and she watched it settle over her injury before it reformed.

She stared in shock until a growl got her attention. In front of her was Beast Boy, his entire torso covered with tattoos that she faintly recognized as a dead language, something that was said to have unparalleled power-and with it risks. His eyes were not the playful ones she knew but harsh flecks of the purest jade. In a voice that wasn't his he cast out words in a harsh melodic tongue that she couldn't understand. The woman who hurt her collapsed on herself with a shriek and a transparent blue copy appeared in front of the green man before he cast an order **"Never stand before me again or I will steal your soul"** the blue copy shivered in fear before returning to her body.

* * *

The tower was deathly silent, Robin, Starfire and Cyborg stood mute as Raven stalked behind Beast Boy who calmly sat in one of the bar stools. Another moment of tense silence passed by. It started when Robin asked "What happened back there?"

In a bland matter-of-fact tone he received his answer "I pulled her soul out of her body, temporarily. Very tricky, took me several years to learn how" the others waited for more, but none was forthcoming.

Starfire and Cyborg knew they were out of their league with souls, Robin looked to their specialist who countered "It's impossible to pull a soul out of a body without killing the person!"

Very calmly the changeling pulled out a cigar from his suit and lit it, slapping away Robin's hand as he tried to take it, he looked back to Raven "Only if you sever the Threads of Fate"

Things started floating as Raven seemed to grow more and more enraged "But to do that would require, at least, an intimate knowing of the subject, you'd have to know them better than they themselves know!" she hissed out the pent up breath and sighed "and you'd have to be a high level necromancer, which I'm damn sure you aren't"

"Correct" her eyebrows shot up at the changeling who crossed one leg over the other and laced his fingers together in his lap "necromancer is the term for a human drabbling in the arts of life and death. And that's what I would be if I was human"

Starfire looked more shaken than anyone else "You are not of human nature?"

"No. I am a bioaccersitus- taken from Latin meaning 'life summoner' it's far more accurate as to what I am"

Raven scoffed "I've never heard that before"

Robin, Cyborg and Starfire had taken seats around the table watching as Raven argued at their green friend "Because those who call me that do not speak"

"What calls without speaking?! A tree?!"

"Correct"

"What?"

As he tapped the ashes off the end of the cigar he continued "Trees contain a basic level of sentience that expands as we age. I am the oldest, I've lived through the dinosaurs and the ice ages that killed so many of my kin."

Robin's confused face mirrored his words "But that doesn't make any sense!"

"As I said we have an _expanding_ consciousness. By the time we enter adulthood we are able to see the flow of nature around us, the streams of time and sands of life. And more importantly we can create ourselves in different forms" the others stood in silence. This was something none of them could ever imagine before "I was born some 300 million years ago. My seed found ground high in the mountains in a crag that no predators could enter and with the decay around me I grew very well. But I survived long enough until I realized something seventeen years ago…I was mind numbingly, soul stiflingly bored. I lived so long on luck, I couldn't change the things around me. So I left my body and let my soul wander to a couple near me. I couple with a stillborn babe. I took the body as a vessel. When I was born I knew nothing of my time as a tree, I loved my parents very much but when I fell sick things started to change. Their antidote removed the barriers from my mind, in essence I started to remember being a tree. But they died before I could remember enough to do more than watch as they drifted away."

He lit another cigar and Raven glared at him before pressing her powers against him before shooting back. He wasn't lying. Cy started "…so what happened after that?" this was more than he expected. Everyone but Beast Boy's past was known. This was his only chance to understand what shaped his friend.

"I wandered in the forest practicing my abilities until two thieves kidnapped me. They forced me to steal things for them. All I could do was obey. Until I remembered enough. One night as they slept I called the vines to break my cage and strangle my captors" the Titans stared in horror as he continued on "they were men who murdered, stole and raped until they couldn't move. To kill them was a mercy. From this point on this is a private conversation between myself and Raven"

The girl looked shocked before she shook her head "If they were with me through Trigon they can hear this"

A small bit of pride lit the green eyes- and for some reason Raven felt a weight lift off her shoulders "I realized I needed someone to help me survive until I could reach adulthood. I wandered back into the jungle, followed the strands of life until I found the remains of someone who died before their time. I called you back to your body. I brought forth your powers to protect me. At the time I felt it was an even exchange, you would protect me until I could go out into the world in return for your own life back" the room was utterly silent save the sizzle of the embers burning back the wrapping on the cigar "Then the Doom Patrol found us. I told them that you were my sister, they didn't believe it but they had no choice but to accept it. After we were…displaced we wandered this city until I saw Robin. I asked you if you wanted join-you told me that if we didn't we'd go our separate ways. I sealed off those memories from your leaving Azarath to your arrival in Jump so that you may be who you wanted to be. I would never hold any sway over you again."

Raven fell silent as Robin seemed to absorb her earlier anger "Then why the Hell did you still act like a child?!"

Beast Boy sighed deeply "Because the team needed it. Cyborg needed someone who he could feel human around until he realized he never became anything else, Starfire needed someone who was able to connect with her through her lack of understanding at the time when she joined, Raven needed someone to help pull her out of the darkness that she believed she was destined for, you needed someone to assert your authority over-someone that you felt could never reach your level."

Cyborg broke the tension "I think we've all had an overload today. I think we should all just go to bed" Beast Boy nodded before flashing his signature smile at them and walking to his room.

Robin nodded "Yeah, sounds good" but they could tell inside he was a bit lost. They all were.

But they weren't dealing with six years of memories kept hidden. Raven wondered what all powers were still hidden in the thin frame as toil, triumph and failures washed over her.

* * *

That night was hard. Each of them had to deal with a false front constructed so perfectly that nobody ever saw through it. The only one who could have slept in peace wasn't. he was cleaning his room, now at least they could see a bit more of who he was instead of the façade of the immature boy.

As the morning came Beast Boy came in early- not as early as Raven but before Robin and quietly made his own breakfast and sat on the couch watching the sun rise above the city. They all gathered, Cyborg had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep while Starfire and Robin seemed listless. Raven was at peace, she remembered things he had not told them, things that only she needed to know.

As they all sat around the table Beast Boy warned "Guys, I want you to stay out of my room, there are things in there that don't particularly like to be seen"

Cyborg chuckled tiredly "That sounded really ominous"

To his surprise the green man chuckled back "Yeah, that did…I want to know how are you guys holding up?"

Starfire gave a shake of her head "I am lost friend Beast Boy, I though you were one person but you are not…I see why you disguised yourself but I am not happy with it"

Robin sighed "I wish I would have known, things could have turned out so much differently"

Cyborg stared out the window until his name rallied him back "…I'll get back to you when I know"

Raven stared at the table "Don't ask me, you know me better than I know myself"


	2. Frankenstein 1

Fraken-oh, shoot me now!

"Not if you were the last man on Earth!"

"Really now?" boom

* * *

_Day 1464:_

_It's only been three days yet the subject is more aware of the situation than ever before, she- it- __**IT **__constantly taunts me at ever turn…god I wish sh- subject was not a woman…female. God this suck._

* * *

_Day 1:_

_This is a total disaster! I'm the last human! I was never any good with people but this is beyond my level. Breath in, breath out…okay, I'm not freaking out quite so bad now. I'll start at the beginning. At 4:00 local time a bomb went off. Now that in itself wouldn't be a big deal except for one thing- this bomb targets a specific link at the point in our genetic code that makes us…us. In essence a bomb that kills only humans. But whoever made the bomb forgot to take into account blast radius (One would think it was kinda important) and fried everyone on the planet. But me. I managed it by being at the furthest point on earth from the explosion. I have checked every village near by- I use the term loosely, I _was _in the middle of the North Pole._

* * *

_Day 839:_

_It has been two years and four months since the bomb detonated, I have traveled the world and gathered everything I could, books, food, guns. I have it all. I have moved it to a secure location that I'll call _The Cradle_. I've even gathered the device that was attached to the bomb-the one that tells exactly how many humans are left on earth. The little screen holds three red letters: One._

_I am alone._

* * *

_Day 846:_

_It's a bit sad but in week I've managed to organize every iota of paper that humanity had ever written that has survived to this point. I guess that's what happens when you don't sleep for a week…guess I'll turn in after I write this and take a shower._

_But one book stood out in particular to me. I have thirteen copies of _Frankenstein _if he made a human then…no, this line of thinking will not hold out to me!_

…_still, it is an intriguing thought…_

* * *

_Day 937:_

_I am going to Hell to burn with all the other idiots. Today I found myself staring at two articles from a few weeks before the bomb, one is about a race called the Tameranians- they live on a distant planet, their crown princess- some "Starspark" or some such came to earth and stayed for quite some time, when she returned home she took a man with her. The article went on to explain that he would go through rights that would change his DNA to that of these Tamer…whatever-they-ares. The other was about a man called Victor Stone, he was taken by his wife to another dimension, apparently one where she came from and pink hair is the norm. _

_But that wouldn't land me in Hell. I found myself writing in my observation journal about how I would go about animating a corpse. At some point I actually found a dead mouse._

_I "operated."_

_Disregard the chew marks on this page. It's trying to gum some of my journals to death…heh. Irony._

* * *

_Day 1003:_

_Well, I hate myself. During my travels I collected every movie as well as…well, everything else. Today I randomly picked _I Frankenstein. _After all my work to keep my mind from that topic I find myself drifting to it again- I fear I'm going insane as that damned number flashes. So I tried reading manga…Buso Renkin, got through the entire series…final volume has an extra about Frankenstein's Monster…great._

_I'll worry about Hell when I get there. In the mean time I'll grab my shovel and try to find some nice bones._

_Okay, that sounded worse than anything else I've ever said and I've managed to put my foot in my mouth in rather spectacular ways_

* * *

_Day 1461_

_I've done it. The subject is alive, using only bones and base elements I've managed to recreate a human life. The bones themselves contained the DNA and the base elements formed the body. As of now the subject is asleep. The bones were found in an unmarked grave and appear to date back to several months before the explosion. As I was never interested in human physiology I couldn't tell if the bones belonged to a male or female. Definitely a woman-FEMALE, female, I can't say if the subject has retained the mind…oh, she's-it's just opened it's eyes…such a magnificent purple…_

"He-hello" he called out weakly.

The woman stretched and looked at her surroundings, she glanced at her white pajama set before she set her eyes on the man. He was a few inches taller than her and quite thin, he wore jeans and a tee. He stood up from a journal and she walked by, she snorted lightly- an operation theater. She stood in front of the doors as they slid open and walked out. The bright blue eyes and dark hair bounced behind her as he tried to catch up.

She opened the third story door and stepped onto the roof before staring out across the once-city that was now a jungle "What happened here?" she snapped as he came to a sudden stop. From his fainting she gathered that he didn't expect her to speak. With all the patience of a rabid mongoose waiting for a dinner bell (I.e. none) she grabbed his journal and started at the beginning.

When he awoke she stared at him "I read your journal" he squeaked "You know for a biologist, you were really good. I remember reading about you before I died." at the unasked question "I was shot, the bullet was from a bank robbery, it went out a window and through my neck before I could even call for help. I died in seconds"

She stood and walked around his form, laying on the roof "Garfield Logan, migratory specialist. Now the second coming of Victor Frankenstein…" his face paled and she chuckled before walking down the stairs "being resurrected is tiring, I'm going to bed" he shot up to rush after her.

* * *

_Day 1462_

_I woke up today with the question of who the subject was before her death. I found myself staring at the machine again. The flashing lights still show one. I never expected it to register her as she would be…something else. But seeing that was a bit more than I was prepared for. The more I think about it the more I have to ask if I dragged her away from paradise…_

* * *

She walked in and watched him concentrate on the paper in front of him "I'm going to Hell" he muttered.

She startled him with "Why?"

He leapt about six feet in the air and grasped at his chest as he huffed heavily "Don't…scare me…like that!" she smirked and he tried (and failed) to fight down his blush at the woman in front of him who wore a skin tight leotard and dark cloak. After a few more moments of breathing he looked at her "Why do you want to know?"

She glanced at the number on the screen "Well, since we have no idea about…well, anything about me I might live forever. You won't. I want to know everything to begin with so this, I guess, is just a small detour. I want to know the man who figured out the mystery to life."

For a moment he stared out the window to the abandoned houses that littered the area, now part of the jungle growth. His eyes were lost in the mist of morality "…I broke a fundamental rule. The living die and the dead stay dead. I pulled you back as…something else. I mean no offence, but I created an abomination. Something that's not supposed to live…"

She stared at him "That's not all, is it?" he shook his head "Are you going to tell me?" again he shook his head and she sighed in irritation.

The scientist grabbed something from underneath the desk "I got you this…you might want to use it at some point…"

One brow arched elegantly as she took the journal from his hands and gave him a seductive smirk and laughed on the inside as he turned red and turned around in an attempt to hide it. She allowed amusement in her voice "You really never talked to girls before have you?"

He turned around and opened his mouth several times, the embarrassment gone as he looked back on something "Don't ask. She wasn't worth the Hell she put me through"

Internally backpedaling Raven shook her head "Okay, so why did you get me this?"

Suddenly he was that socially inept man again "Well, like you pointed out we don't know anything about how long your…lifespan might last" he scratched the back of his neck "I thought that this might help you organize your thoughts and maybe…I dunno, help future generations…if there ever is any"

She turned around and allowed her cloak to twirl about before she glanced out of the corner of her eyes to see him glued to her alluring hips. A shudder ran down his spine as an evil smile crept across her face.

She found a new hobby.

* * *

_Day 1464:_

_It's only been three days yet the subject is more aware of the situation than ever before, she- it- __**IT **__constantly taunts me at ever turn…god I wish sh- subject was not a woman…female. Speaking of the subject "Raven" she displays remarkable mental capacity, she and I have had several discussion ranging from the alpha emissions of particles to the statistical accuracy of Z-score system. Now I find myself wondering what type of woman she was before her death. But her intellect is also used for more nefarious purposes. God this suck. Every chance she gets she manages to make me…shall we say 'react' she is a very beautiful woman…was-is. God I'm so confused. My head hurts. This calls for the old remedy of playing video games until my brain crashes. _

* * *

He got up and walked to the main room, a large circular room with a wide window that looked out across the forest and loaded his favorite game into the console and turned on the giant TV. His creation walked in moments after he started to play "What is this?" She asked staring at the multitude of little forms running around near a giant.

His tongue poked out of his mouth as he commanded his army of midgets "Overlord" and she watched as the opening cinematic took place. She snorted softly, this was ridiculous.

Within moments though she thought otherwise. A vicious giggle lit the air as he set a field of Halflings on fire. He paused to stare at her in shock. Within moments she took a deep breath and smirked inside as his eyes flickered down to where she was drawing his attention. "Can I try?" he nodded blandly and handed her the controller before giving her a quick rundown on how the game worked.

* * *

Day 1:

This is the third day of my existence as a resurrected creature, my creator Garfield Logan created me after…I think if anybody has my journal they should have his and will know who he is and the circumstances surrounding the extinction of all but one human and my own creation-that being said I don't know if he knows exactly what he brought back. Thankfully my mirror resides in a subspace slipstream immune to any outside influences. Happy dressed up as a zombie and even got Timid to join in. I have no clue as to how. But I learned the good doctor has two journals, a personal one and what he calls an observation journal wherein he keeps notes on all his experiments- he freely allows me to look at the later, he even encourages it. After a few hours my head was spinning-not just from the sheer amount of data, nor the apparent ADD of my creator but the fact that he sees patterns where I believed none existed. His photos, theorems and proof convinced me otherwise. He seems brilliant in his own way.

But in all this I can't help but wonder what his motivations for bringing me back are? Did he use me as a guinea pig to see if he could bring back the human race? For a moment I once thought he brought me back to conceive his children, but he is far to shy and socially inept. To put it in perspective, if a social event was a window he would be a cinderblock launched out of a Howitzer.


End file.
